I hope you come back to read this, but just in case anybody else comes by and is wondering the same thing. My answer isn't very eloquent, but its right.

The answer to your problems is: THE NECROTOD.

That little baby can be created after battles against humans. The necrotod is basically able to "charm" or "enslave" or "tame" or whatever you want to call it. Build these after every battle and eventually you'll have an army that gets bigger after every battle and rarely suffers losses against all but the largest of threats. Use them to fight against roaming bandits and forest spawns and mine/village/town/city garrisons and you'll convert a bunch of them to your side. You'll end up having an army that is almost unstoppable because of its sheer size and its ability to eliminate enemy units and bring them onto your side.

That being said, a huge army of relatively weak/mundane units backed up by necrotods isn't going to stop the best enemy armies or truly powerful monsters, but thats where your golems come into play. Because most of the battles you should have fought should have involved your (resource free!) necrotod armies, you've been able to save up your resources until you can spend them on powerful golems that you use against the best your enemy has to offer.

Absolutely yes. Necrotrod is the unit that makes enchanter playable. The second, IMHO, is clay golem. Other golems with their "can not heal" are the poor-man's choise if there are no swamps nearby, and ice golems are "the way to transform lake into swamp to create clay golem". The best thing about clay golems is that as long as you continue to win battles they are totally immortal due to regeneration. Great shield wall for your archers - and you'll have a lot more archers, than first-rank units, thanks to necrotrods.

do necrotods and spellcasters continue doing their job when in a battle that is too large to show them? IE a 600 vs 600 battle.

Actualy for some armies it seems that low hp very important armies may get totaly wiped out by a low number army just by using spells that affect entire army . IE drood entanglement, the burn ability to all army, etc etc ... . On those case it seems the spellcasters / catapult / ranged don t do anything if out of screen.

Try not to destroy resources too soon. Wait until you meet the enemy and destroy theirs.

Also... I send my Enchanter out looking for bodies to turn into Necrotods. Graveyards are good for that. And I park my apprentice on swamps making Terracotta Soldiers.

If you still find that too hard then try ally with someone like Baron. Follow him around and make Necros at his battles and cities. Plus, later on you can repay him by using your portal ability to help him out in one of his drawbacks. He gets free troops at his home capital each year which tend to just build up because the front lines are too far away. Build a portal in his capital and he will love you for it.

Enchanter is abit overpowered, actually. Played right, he is unstoppable. First rule of thumb when playing him, DO NOT turn your mines into golems. At least not until mid-late game, and then only outside your established economy. Iron is your lifeblood as an Enchanter. With a high iron income, the Enchanter can crush pretty much any other class into the dust. The staple units of your fledgeing army are the Wood Golem from forests and the Necrotod from humanoid corpses(battles and appropriate tiles). Next are Clay Golems from swamps, and Ice Golems from frozen lakes, which then turn into swamps and yield a Clay Golem. Any Ancient Forests also yeild Oak Golems, and have the plus of eliminating the animal mob spawn point. With two full rows of Necrotods, and 4 rows of Golems, I've crushed massive armies of opposing sides. And it doesnt take that long to get to that point if you have enough mines around the starting area. Just dont waste early resources on gargoyles or animated armors if you can help it. Pump out those wood golems and kill em all.